Saturday, July 30, 2011

Good morning! The Bubbly Blonde is hosting a "What is your biggest classroom pet-peeve?" Linky Party. I try to be patient and understanding and not let the little stuff bother me, but I must say there are a few things I have a hard time ignoring!

1. Whistling

2. Tapping pencils

3. When you turn around and there is a group of kids in a circle waiting to ask you a question.

4. Students hands on the hallway walls...after you know how much work it takes to make them look nice!

Now, obviously there are rules for some of these...like don't get out of your seat unless you have permission and keep your hands to your sides or give yourself a hug in the hallway. But you know there are always those "rule-breakers"!

Friday, July 29, 2011

Let me start by saying I LOVE following Babbling Abby! She is so super creative and has AMAZING ideas! After seeing the sign she made out of a ceiling tile...I was inspired to create my own. Thanks Abby for sharing such a wonderful idea! My daughter and I had so much fun making it and we have already decided that we are going to create one for her bedroom too! :) Here is how it turned out....

Another Pinterest project complete! While at Walmart yesterday I decided to raid the paint chip section to make the making word ladders that I found. I chose the larger chips with a hole in it and the long chips that have multiple colors on it. The word family endings go on the chips with the hole and then you put letters, blends, digraphs on the long chips. I made different endings to go with different ladders to make sure it wouldn't make any inappropriate words. ;) Then I made a word response sheet to go with it. As the kiddos make words, they will record them on their sheet and decide if they are a real word or a nonsense word. Here are some pics and a copy of my response sheet if you're interested.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

I have done some extra work this summer....I taught Summer School at the beginning of the summer and I have been tutoring a little girl that I work with throughout the year. Needless to say, I have been earning some extra money. My wonderful husband told me I could use it to purchase some of the items from my "What Are You In Love With?" list. So, I bought 2 of the items today and I am SO excited!!

First of all I finally purchased my Regal Reading Writing Center. I have been eyeing this baby on teachers' websites for years. Of course, there are much more deluxe models than the one I purchased. But this one has 2 magnetic dry erase boards, a big book ledge that holds markers, 4 removable tubs, a brake to lock it in place and attachable clips for a pocket chart or chart tablet. It will definitely be an awesome addition to my room. And even better...I found it for a great price! At Classroom Direct it was $179.97 (plus tax) with FREE shipping!!

My second item of purchase was a little unexpected. On the same list as above about my classroom loves, I had posted a picture of an ELMO document camera. However, I don't really have $400 to spend. But thanks to Jennifer at A Pirate's Life For Us for pointing me in the direction of the IPEVO document camera. Will work for just the purpose I'm looking for....show papers instead of making transparencies, show manipulatives, books, etc. without dragging out the overhead projector!! And best of all it is only $69 with FREE shipping!! Thanks Jennifer!!

So, if you are looking to purchase either of these items for your classroom...these are the places to get the best deals! :)

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Well, after a workshop this morning on Common Core standards, I came back home to my daughter ready to do more crafts! :) So, we accomplished 2 more crafts I found on Pinterest that I wanted to make. First of all, I had these really BORING clipboards from school and I decided I wanted to decorate them up and make them much cuter. Here are the directions and some pics so you can see my project as it unfolds. :)

First, I started with my ugly brown clipboards and a variety of 12x12 scrapbook sheets.

Next, apply a layer of mod-podge to the entire clipboard. Be careful to hold the clip up until the paper is on or it will stick to the board.

Next smooth the scrapbook sheet onto the mod-podge and rub out any lumps.

I didn't paper both sides, instead I just folded over the sides and mod-podged them on. (lazy...I know)

Let the back dry for about 15 min. and then mod-podge over the front paper.

Let the front dry for about 15 min. and voila you have a decorated clipboard!!

Here is part of what I did...20 clipboards all together!

I plan to have my kiddos working from the meeting carpet quite a bit so I thought some fun, cute clipboards would make it easier and more exciting! :)﻿

Second craft of the day....Lollipop Trees!! I am using my clip chart behavior chart this year and if they get at least one great day for the week they will get to pick a lollipop from the tree. Each tree has 6 dum-dum suckers with the bottom tip colored with a marker. If the kiddo pulls that one they will be the lucky winner of a prize from the prize box as well!

We started with small styrofoam balls, 2 plant pots and a big bag of Dum-Dum suckers.

Place the ball into the plant pot and starting at the top center, start adding dum-dums in a variety of colors.

Keep adding suckers until all the styrofoam ball is covered.

Here are my 2 Lollipop Trees!

Hope you enjoy my day of crafting! We had a lot of fun and we have made some awesome things for my classroom! :D﻿

Well, we have finally finished my first Pinterest project that I wanted to tackle. After a trip to Michael's and Walmart we got a couple more colors of fabric and a strand of clear lights and we were ready to finish up. I found a lighted garland on Pinterest and thought it would look adorable if I used colors that would complement my classroom colors and then make it as a garland to hang over my doorway as everyone enters my classroom. I obviously haven't been able to figure out if it will work on my school doorway but I have tried it at home and I think it looks adorable! So, I am posting some pics with directions if you want to try it out on your own. :)

First of all, we bought the quarter cuts of fabric at Walmart and these are the colors we chose. We cut it into squares and then cut the squares into about an 11/2 inch wide strip. These are the strips that you see here.

Then we started tying them around the light strand (50) in random order just making sure the colors were mixed up. We thought it would look better like that, rather than making a specific pattern.

Just keep adding ties until you have the whole strand covered.

Here you see the finished product hanging over the doorway.

A closeup view of it while it is lit up. :)

This is what it looks like with the lights off. ;)

I am really excited to get back to my room and see how it is going to look over my classroom door! Let me know what you think!﻿

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

I of course have been stalking Pinterest and have come upon so many awesome things I want to make. So, I went to Walmart and bought some fabric and my daughter and I have started on one of my projects this morning. I'm not going to tell you about it yet...I'm just going to give you a sneak peak. Once we are all finished I will post directions and more pics so you can make your own if you want. :D

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE Pinterest?!? Michelle's Math in the Middle is hosting a Pinterest linky party so we can all check out each others' boards. I have found so many awesome ideas already and I cannot wait to look for more!! Please stop by and check out my boards and then link up so we can see yours too! If you need an invite just leave me a comment with your email address and I would be happy to send you one. :)

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Clutter-free Classroom is hosting a linky party about what we want to resolve to do for the new school year. Since I am switching grade levels this year, I have a couple of things I want to resolve to do.

1. Organize--Now let me start by saying that I am a fairly organized person when it comes to my classroom. I like it neat and tidy with things in their places, but what I am talking about is getting rid of things that I have not used in the last year or so and that I don't think I'm going to use. I hate that I have been storing things that I really don't need. I would rather give them to someone who might actually use them or just get rid of them if no one wants them. So, as soon as I get back in my room...out with the old and make room for the new that I plan to actually use! :)

2. Understand my curriculum to the fullest--once again because I am switching grade levels, I really want to make sure I am covering everything I need to. It is my hope that ALL of my students will be reading at grade-level by the end of the year of course and I just want to make sure that I am doing everything I possibly can to ensure their success. Not that this is a whole lot different from what I do any other year, I just know I will have to work a little harder since I have never taught 1st grade before. :)

Friday, July 22, 2011

After looking at multiple blogs and pinterest accounts, I think it has my creative juices flowing. lol. This is off topic of school by the way. My daughter is on the swim team for our local pool. (She loves it!) Anyway, this weekend is their swim conference. They have had an undefeated season and they are really pumped up. My daughter and 3 friends are in the 11-12 yr. old Freestyle Relay and the order that they are in makes their initials K.A.K.E. So, the sillies thought up the saying that they are K.A.K.E. and my daughter says, "Yeah, I like it because I can say...'Do you wanna piece of me?" So....long story short, I thought how cute it would be to make t-shirts for them to wear tomorrow to conference. I am attaching them so you can see how darling they turned out. Obviously, they are nowhere near high quality, but the girls really think they are Awesome! We decided to do 2 shirt colors, the black for the K's and the blue for the vowels. And by the way....the little picture between the words is a piece of cake. LOL...Enjoy!

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Jennifer at First Grade Blue Skies is hosting a linky party about what we are in love with for our classroom this year. I decided to join in and I'm kind of excited because this is the first time I have ever participated in a linky party!

First of all, I am definitely getting one of these this year! I have been eyeing these on teacher's websites for years now and I know it is time to finally purchase one of my own!

The Regal Reading Writing Center

Another item I keep eyeing, but I just can't afford to purchase yet is the Elmo document camera. I really want one of these for my room. I think it is so awesome to not have to use transparencies on the overhead and also that you can put manipulatives or a book under there so your whole class can see at once. Great invention! :)

I would really like to find a reasonably priced set of wicker furniture for my classroom. I would love to have a couch and a couple of chairs to set around the room. I think it would really make it feel more homey. :)

I have seen these little lanterns and I am trying to decide if I can find anywhere I can hang them in my classroom. I think they are so cute!

There are tons of things I would love to have for my classroom! My husband wonders how I can spend so much money on my job, but when school starts I know my classroom will be my home away from home and I want my kiddos to feel like they are at home too. :)

Join the linky party! I would love to see what the rest of you are in love with too!

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Well, I have to redo my book bins since I will be moving from 4th grade to 1st. Some of them would have worked the same but I figure if I am going to change one, I am going to change them all. lol. So, after stalking Jessica Meacham's site (one of my favorite places to get ideas), I have decided to use the plastic business card holders and make my labels on business cards.

I will attach these little babies to my baskets and then just slide the business card into the slot. That way if I want to change what books are in the basket, I can easily change the label to go with them. I also plan to use these little pockets on my mini-drawers that I am going to use for my student's supplies (Thanks Jessica Meacham!)

Each student will have their own drawer and they will keep their crayons, pencils, & nametag in the drawer. When they need them, they will just go pull their drawer and take it to a table with them. :)

So, I thought I would share my book bin labels with you if anyone is interested in trying these easy idea like me! Hope you like them~ (sorry I can't figure out how to make them all show up with one link)

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Meet the Teacher

My name is Alissa and I started teaching in 2006. I began in 2nd grade and since then I have taught Kindergarten and 4th grade and I will begin my 6th year in 1st grade this year.
I have been happily married to the man of my dreams for 13 years. I have a 22 year old son and a 17 year old daughter. Needless to say, between the 3 of them and school I stay plenty busy!
I am looking forward to sharing great ideas and fun times with other teachers!